The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Review-A-Day

"It's easy to feel an affinity for this simplistic, folksy bathos; it's easier, after all, to act for the sake of heaven than to make the considered and nuanced moral choices that really confront us in life. And it is here that Albom fails. His character makes no moral choices, he does not ponder the depths of his existence, he is merely a reactive stick figure that has to go to cotton-candy heaven to learn that his life had meaning. It's single-serve religion for a drive-thru, strip-mall, mega-church kind of country." Sacha Zimmerman, The New Republic (read the entire New Republic review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long-awaited follow-up, an enchanting, beautifully crafted novel that explores a mystery only heaven can unfold.

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years — from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge — so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.

Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his — and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.

One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.

In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom gives us an astoundingly original story that will change everything you've ever thought about the afterlife — and the meaning of our lives here on earth. With a timeless tale, appealing to all, this is a book that readers of fine fiction, and those who loved Tuesdays with Morrie, will treasure.

Review:

"Sincere....A book with the genuine power to stir and comfort its readers." The New York Times

Review:

"Simply told, sentimental, and profoundly true, this is an contemporary American fable that will be cherished by a vast readership." Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Review:

"Fans of Tuesdays with Morrie will be delighted with this novel." People magazine

Review:

"A sweet book that makes you smile but is not gooey with overwrought sentiment." Booklist

Review:

"Transcendent....Albom has aimed high here, and there's a whiff of paradise as a result." Atlanta Journal Constitution

Review:

"This is a lovely book, sweet, entertaining and wise. What a gutsy, surprising follow-up to Morrie." Anne Lamott, author of Traveling Mercies and Blue Shoe

Synopsis:

From the author of the "New York Times" bestseller "Tuesdays with Morrie" comes a novel that explores the unexpected connections of readers' lives and the idea that heaven is more than a place--it's an answer._Accelerated Reader: Reading Level 4.7, 6 Points.

Synopsis:

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him, as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"

About the Author

Mitch Albom is an author, playwright, and screenwriter who has written seven books, including the international bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, the bestselling memoir of all time. His first novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, was an instant number-one New York Times bestseller that has since sold more than six million copies worldwide. Both books were made into acclaimed TV films. Mitch also works as a columnist and a broadcaster, and serves on numerous charitable boards. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 6 comments:

LisaN, August 4, 2012 (view all comments by LisaN)
I sat down to read this and didn't stop until it was finished (it's a pretty quick read, but I couldn't put it down the whole time). This is a wonderful story and it's wonderfully written. I'll be recommending it to a lot of my friends.

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(3 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)

Foxxie Wyldfyre, January 4, 2012 (view all comments by Foxxie Wyldfyre)
this is an easy read and a feel good book. sometimes people feel as though they are dealt a hand in life they can not change. in this story you realize what many people forget in life "you affect people" the story does not harp on you have to be this kind of person or that kind to get to heaven. because it is not about heaven. it is about no matter who you are and what you do YOU AFFECT THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU!!!! nice book and a fun little read

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(4 of 8 readers found this comment helpful)

"Review A Day"
by Sacha Zimmerman, The New Republic,
"It's easy to feel an affinity for this simplistic, folksy bathos; it's easier, after all, to act for the sake of heaven than to make the considered and nuanced moral choices that really confront us in life. And it is here that Albom fails. His character makes no moral choices, he does not ponder the depths of his existence, he is merely a reactive stick figure that has to go to cotton-candy heaven to learn that his life had meaning. It's single-serve religion for a drive-thru, strip-mall, mega-church kind of country." (read the entire New Republic review)

"Review"
by The New York Times,
"Sincere....A book with the genuine power to stir and comfort its readers."

"Review"
by Publishers Weekly (starred review),
"Simply told, sentimental, and profoundly true, this is an contemporary American fable that will be cherished by a vast readership."

"Review"
by People magazine,
"Fans of Tuesdays with Morrie will be delighted with this novel."

"Review"
by Booklist,
"A sweet book that makes you smile but is not gooey with overwrought sentiment."

"Review"
by Atlanta Journal Constitution,
"Transcendent....Albom has aimed high here, and there's a whiff of paradise as a result."

"Review"
by Anne Lamott, author of Traveling Mercies and Blue Shoe,
"This is a lovely book, sweet, entertaining and wise. What a gutsy, surprising follow-up to Morrie."

"Synopsis"
by Libri,
From the author of the "New York Times" bestseller "Tuesdays with Morrie" comes a novel that explores the unexpected connections of readers' lives and the idea that heaven is more than a place--it's an answer._Accelerated Reader: Reading Level 4.7, 6 Points.

"Synopsis"
by TimeWarner,
Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him, as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"

Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and gifts — here at Powells.com.